Author: Max Worthington
Worthington, Max, 2020 Sulfur polymers for the environment and human health, Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering
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With the rapid depletion of our most important chemical feedstock—crude oil—ever looming it is
important to explore the possibility of alternate carbon sources for the production of polymers and
other chemicals. Sulfur, a by-product of the petroleum industry, offers an incredibly cheap and
accessible building block for the polymerisation of such materials. By reacting canola oil, an
inexpensive and abundant plant extract with sulfur through inverse-vulcanisation, our lab has
developed a new high-sulfur-content rubber from renewable and waste materials.
This rubber is able to remove various species of toxic mercury from air, water and soil, and inclusion
of sodium chloride as a porogen in synthesis affords a porous version of this material with improved
mercury binding capabilities and also the capacity to absorb crude oil and diesel; key polluters in
ocean oil spills.
The use of sulfur polymers as biomedical implants was also explored with the incorporation of
therapeutic molecules for controlled and targeted delivery within the body.
Keywords: Sulfur, Polymer, Mercury, Oil Spill, Polysulfide, Green Chemistry
Subject: Chemistry thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2020
School: College of Science and Engineering
Supervisor: Justin Chalker